Step 3. Make Choices and Accept the Consequences: Giving Up What You Don’t Want Badly Enough

Clear the decks to minimize the tradeoffs.

Learn to say no without feeling guilty.

Make critical choices that permit attaining balance and accept the consequences of those choices.

Illusion:We can make up later in life for what we’ve put aside earlier.

Reality:We can’t make up later in life for what we’ve put aside earlier. If we focus on our careers at the expense of our families, missing our children growing up, we’ll never get that back. Conversely, if we drop off the career track to raise families, it’s almost impossible to get back on; thus, we’ll miss the opportunity to achieve our career goals.